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30 Ways to Save Money at the Grocery Store
We're all watching our wallets these days, and for many saving money at the grocery store is not just a hobby but a necessity. There is no denying that food costs are on the rise and feeding a family is getting expensive. According to a recent report released by the Food Institute at the University of Guelph, the unsavoury combination of the low loonie and poor weather patterns means stocking the refrigerator will cost hundreds of dollars more this year. Keeping a family full on less food for more money is tough to swallow, which is why we've put together 27 ideas for saving money at the grocery store, with hope that these tips will help you take a bite out of rising food prices.
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Get to Know Food Prices
The first step in knowing how to save money starts with being aware of how much things actually cost. Keep track of the regular prices of the food you buy often, as this will help you to know which stores have the best prices and if you are getting a good deal or not.
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See What’s on Sale
Peruse weekly flyers (we like to use Flipp or reebee for this—both great and both available for iOS and Android) to see what's on sale and shop accordingly.
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Make a Meal Plan
When it comes to saving money on your groceries, much of it can happen before you even leave the house if you take the time to meal plan before you visit the store. Meal planning saves cash by helping us to buy only what we need, and reduces the chances of having food go to waste. Check out our Meal Planning 101 guide for more information.
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Shop with a List
This is one of the easiest ways to stick to your grocery budget. If you don't have one with you, you'll end up forgetting what you need and buy a bunch of things that you can do without (we're looking at you boxed brownie mix!). We love, and use everyday, this 'All Out Of' pad to keep track of what we need.
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Pay with Cash and Budget
Using cold hard cash to pay for your purchases is more likely to force you to stick to your food budget. It's harder to overspend if you don't excess money available to you. Speaking of a food budget, do you have one? If not, it might be time to think about what you can afford to spend on feeding your family each month.
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Buy in Season
Fruits and vegetables are always cheaper, not to mention tastier, when they're purchased in season. To avoiding wasting produce, purchase pieces at various stages of ripeness, choosing some that are ripe and ready to eat and others that will ripen slowly so you'll have enough time to consume all of your items before they spoil.
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Buy Frozen
Somewhere along the way frozen food got a bad rap, but fruits and vegetables found in the freezer section of the grocery store are more than okay. Picked in season at a farm and flash frozen immediately, the nutrients are preserved making them top quality items to consider. Choose local when possible by looking for the Product of Canada label on packages.
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Buy Meat on the Bone
Opt for those luscious, flavourful cuts of meat that sit on a bone. It imparts big flavour in the final dish and is almost always less expensive than those other cuts of meats. Every family should have a good pork shoulder recipe in their repertoire, and cook it frequently for a frugal addition to their meal plan.
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Shop Generic Brands to Cut Your Bill by Almost 25%
Even if you are loyal to a specific brand of packaged products, switching to its generic counterpart can save you up to 25% on your food costs. Bonus tip: always look at the unit price of something to see the actual compared value of what you are buying.
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Buy from a Bulk Food Store, But Within Reason
Bulk shopping can seem like a great idea, but keep in mind that it can often lead to purchasing more of something than you really need or want. However, one thing to almost always consider purchasing at self-serve bulk food stores (like Bulk Barn) is dried spices. You can buy the quantity that you require instead of an oversized container, meaning you have no waste nor the need to toss the unused bits away when they expire.
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Turn Limp, Lifeless Vegetables into Soup
Think of yourself as a produce paramedic and rescue those sad looking scraps by turning them into a hearty soup that the whole family will love.
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Make Your Own Meals
This is where true savings really start, so try making your meals at home as often as possible. They are less expensive, not to mention healthier, than buying ready-to-eat prepared foods. In need of some family meal inspiration? Here are 13 meals the whole family, from a toddler to a teenager, will enjoy.
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Know Your Stores
Grocery stores have perfected the art of laying out a store in order to maximize your purchases. Keep in mind that they often keep milk, eggs, and other good-for-you essentials at the back of the store so you have to bypass the bakery in order to get what you actually need. Avoid the middle aisles and the easy-to-grab expensive snack foods in an effort to counteract the store's efforts to get you to buy more.
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Look High and Low
Another grocery store selling tactic involves stocking higher-priced items at eye-level because that's where you look first when you're shopping. Trying scanning the top and bottom shelves to find similar items for better prices.
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Know What’s Worth the Splurge
Pinching pennies at the grocery store doesn't automatically mean giving up the things you love or the things that are good for you. But practically speaking you need to save somewhere in order to afford those small luxuries. So decide what items are worth the splurge (Greek yogurt, organic produce, etc.) and if they are important to you and your family don't bypass them—work to save money on your food purchases in other ways.
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Make Many of Your Staples from Scratch
With a little advanced planning, you can make many of your fridge and pantry staples from scratch, saving a ton of cash in the process. Everything from maple balsamic salad dressing to almond butter to brownie roll-out cookies can be made at home for just a fraction of the cost of store-bought. Bonus: they also happen to taste better when made at home!
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Don’t Be Afraid of the Ugly Produce
Imperfect produce can cost up to 30% less and makes perfect sense for budget shoppers. The blemished and misshaped fruits and vegetables might be cosmetically challenged, but from a taste perspective they are harmless and can easily be used in soups, stews, curries and sauces instead of being thrown away.
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Stock up on Your Favourite Staples
Stock up on your favourite pantry items that you know your family will plow through (peanut butter, oatmeal, cereal, etc.) whenever you find them on sale.
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Buy Frozen Berries Instead of Fresh
Fresh berries are often expensive, especially when purchased out of season. Frozen berries cost much less and are just as nutritious. Also, with frozen berries you don't have to worry about them going bad before you can eat them. Use them in smoothies and baked goods, or let them thaw in the fridge overnight and spoon over yogurt and granola for a naturally sweet upgrade to a favourite breakfast meal.
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Eat Meatless
It's the International Year of the Pulse so why not add more beans, lentils and other legumes to your dinner plate instead of more meat. They're delicious, sustainable, local (for Canadians), healthy, protein-packed and super inexpensive. They also happen to be high in fibre, B-vitamins, iron, potassium, magnesium and zinc, and have twice as much protein as other whole grains like wheat, barley or rice. If your family isn't sold on pulses yet, try replacing half the meat in a recipe with beans, lentils or chickpeas, when appropriate, like in this turkey lentil sloppy Joe recipe.
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Perfect a Few Recipes as You Go
One sure-fire way to save money is to perfect a few simple, healthy and delicious meals that can be made with the pantry items you almost always have on hand. Look for recipes with a short list of cheap and cheerful ingredients and add a few of them to your meal plan every week.
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Buy Specialty Ingredients at Ethnic Markets
Ethnic grocery stores not only offer a great variety of well-priced international ingredients that might be considered ‘gourmet' at a regular grocery store (coconut milk, rice noodles, etc.), but they also sell basic produce and meat at economical prices. In addition, many of these flavour profiles are made with ingredients that naturally cost less like rice, beans and spices. Try adding recipes with international flair to your weekly meal plan in an effort to save some money.
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Cut and Slice Your Own Produce
Pre-cut fruit and chopped vegetables cost several dollars more than if you do the cutting and slicing yourself. Purchase produce whole and invest in a top-quality knife instead.
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Be Aware of Seasonal Spending
Although seasonal produce is often fresh and frugal, groceries in the summer can cost a family almost double what they spend the rest of the year, thanks to an increase in social outings and entertaining. Creating a specific budget for the summer season can help to balance the books at the end of each warm-weather month.
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Take Advantage of Coupons
Does extreme couponing seem, well… extreme? If so, don't worry, because there are lots of ways to save money at the grocery store without having to carry around a coupon binder while pushing a cart full of toilet paper. You can clip paper coupons to take to the store with you, or let technology lend a helping hand in the form of a few websites we happen to be fond of. Check out save.ca, smartcanucks.ca, and pgeveryday.ca for a variety of couponing options available to Canadians. But take note: while coupons are great, they're only good if they are for items you need from the brands you love.
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Use Recipes with Similar Ingredients
Eliminate food waste by planning meals that use recipes with the same ingredients so there is nothing to waste. For example, if you buy celery, figure out how to use every stalk—not just the two that you need in your Tuesday night soup recipe.
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Don't Be Afraid to Price Match
Price matching is the act of taking a flyer from a competitor's store and bringing it to a participating store in order to match or beat the competitor's advertised price. It has become a popular (not to mention totally awesome) way to save money on groceries. Not only do you save time and money by not having to drive from store to store to take advantage of the sales, BUT you can price match and use coupons at the same time, an obvious added bonus that will put money back into your wallet. For more information and to start saving money, visit your favourite store's website to determine if they have a price matching policy in place.
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Swap and Substitute
Don't hesitate to swap and/or substitute less expensive ingredients for their costly counterparts. For example, if a recipe calls for pine nuts use walnuts or pecans in their place. If you don't want to buy Arborio rice for risotto, you can use a medium-grain white rice instead.
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Use Your Freezer
A freezer is a budget shopper's best friend because when you shop the sales and buy in bulk you need somewhere to store those savings.
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Do Not Waste Food
It may seem silly to highlight this obvious statement, but it really is the more important tip when it comes to making ends meet. Reuse your leftovers in simple ways like turning a chicken carcass into soup stock, use lemon peels to infuse liquor, and sauté the leafy tops of your beets instead of sticking them in the compost bin.